The present invention relates generally to display systems and more particularly to a real time, computer-driven, retail pricing display system for automatically displaying pricing and other specialized information for items which are identified with a standard universal product (bar) code.
For the most part retail pricing indicators for displayed merchandise in grocery, hardware, and other retail (and perhaps even wholesale) establishments are generally in the form of plastic numbers that fit in or on a track or holder in front of or below the associated merchandise. On occasion, price indicators are preprinted cards or stamped adhesive background tags or labels. Still another method involves stamping prices in ink on the particular items of interest. All current methods, including those enumerated, have serious disadvantages of one sort or another. They can be manipulated by customers, stolen or otherwise tampered with. Moreover, all such referenced indicators must necessarily be changed manually in the event of a price change, or sale event, or simply a change in merchandise location.
One significant innovation in recent years is the development of the Universal Product Coding (UPC) System. The UPC or "bar" code can be considered as a series of vertical bars varying in width and spacing which may be read by machine or by optical means as binary information. The code may contain pricing, manufacturer identification as well as other information, such as size, contents, etc. The deciphered coding digits may then be indexed with a computer file which contains the actual pricing and/or information. The UPC coding arrangement permits the automatic check-out of merchandise at one or more check-out counters by optical scanning of each items' bar code which, when fed to the store point-of-sale (POS) computer, identifies the product and automatically registers the established price for that item. Clerks accordingly are no longer required to first manually read and then enter the price of each item into a conventional cash register.
It will be appreciated that these benefits can be multiplied substantially if the merchandise does not have to be manually priced in addition to the UPC bar code. However, several problems arise regarding the elimination of manual pricing. First, the retail or wholesale establishment must establish and maintain credibility with the customer that the bin or shelf price is in fact accurate. A conventional policy frequently adopted is that bin price takes priority over computer price, which in turn of course encourages bin price manipulation. To maintain bin price accuracy, constant and expensive policing must in fact occur.
Still another problem arises simply because of the sheer volume of price changes involved. It has been estimated that approximately 10% of the prices of a store's inventory are changed weekly to reflect cost variations. Perhaps another 10% of the prices may be changed so as to reflect sales specials, and then changed back again when the sale event is terminated. For the most part, such price changes are effected on overtime, or at least when the store is closed to normal business. Further, since auditing a price is ordinarily must be accomplished with the aid of a printed book, it is next to impossible to maintain computer prices (the scanned prices) synchronous with book prices.